2009 is changing. The world will never be the same

The end of the year, as always, brings with it end of the year blog posts.I think that this year my blog post is going to be short, sweet and to the point.I loved 2009.It's been a crazy, upside-down and incredibly fruitful year.

The quickshots

I bought a Townhouse.I bought a new car (Honda Civic, 1.8 Exi)I changed jobs to possibly one of the best places I could hope to be working at with thanks to Vincent Maher.

Some of the achievements

I was selected as one GQ's top 30 men in media.I was selected as one of Mail & Guardian's top 300 South Africans to take to lunch.Appeared on an SABC TV Show talking about the youth and politics before the 2009 elections.Interviewed on 702 about the zahell debacle or the "zahellgate" if you will.

The madness

I was involved in a freak plane crash and managed to assist in helping some people stay alive. That was probably, in hindsight, one of the more dramatic, thought-provoking and gut-wrenching moments of my life as well as one of the proudest, for myself and the friends I was with.Out of that day I also gained some new and true friends.

Here's a list of some of my favourite things that emerged out of 2009

Favourite GameGuitar Hero 5Favourite albumaKing - Against All OddsDefinitive album of 2009Jay-Z - Blueprint 3Favourite SongDavid Ford - State of the nationFavourite TV SeriesThe Big Bang TheoryThe Take (still new but looks promising)Favourite MovieThe HangoverDistrict 9 (local smash)Favourite take outSteersFavourite restaurantBombay Bicycle Club (Cape Town)Fork (Cape Town)Favourite AirlineKulula.comFavourite Day of the weekSundayFavourite thing about JoziThunder storms that attack with vengeance and rage.Favourite Web Application/ServiceBasecampFavourite mobile applicationUbertwitter (I think it would seem a bit bias to say The Grid).Favourite websiteThe Best Article Every DayFavourite Blog/LifestreamBlacknotesFavourite webisodeJake and AmirFavourite online comicCyanide and HappinessFavourite Tech BlogReadWriteWebFavourite Twitter follower@Donpackett - Hilarity at every turn.Favourite Twitter streamShitmydadsaysFavourite hobbiesPokerGolfIt is a bit dramatic to say that after this year the world will never be the same. I think what I actually mean is that my world will never be the same. Which invariably is the whole world if I want to be a bit narcissistic.I have learned that you cannot have everything right now. Time is constant and change is inevitable and sometimes you need to crouch, touch, pause and only then engage. You cannot constantly engage.This year saw the end of manic blogging from me and the increase of twitter activity and listening. I've begun to listen more than I speak which I am sure is a welcome change.Next year is going to be about consolidation, establishing a platform and working off of that platform in my personal life and in my career.The killer concept next year is going to be mobile. There is no doubt about that in my mind. We are going to see some amazing mobile developments emerging out of Africa (I say Africa because the first world still believes that mobile = iPhone).Enjoy the holiday because I know I will.2010 is going to hit us with a bang (not the big bang I hope). My prediction for early 2010 is that we truly have no idea how massive the 2010 World Cup is going to be and South Africans are going to overwhelmed.

Don't be a fool, don't drive drunk, bu...

Don't be a fool, don't drive drunk, but feel free to drink without the drive.OK, so I saw Jason's post on his lovely Castle hamper that he received and all of a sudden felt like a terrible person.I have received one of the Castle hampers too. And they rock my socks off, truly. There is a freakin' place to hold your beer of choice in the braai apron. That's classy stuff right there.But on a more serious angle, Castle Lager is doing something very smart this year. They are telling people to drink, but stay the fuck away from driving cars if they are drunk. Now they obviously didn't use these particular words in their campaign but that's the gist of it.Don't drink and drive. Don't be a tit, don't be a murderer and don't be a tool. Wait, wasn't that a Van Wilder line? "Don't be a fool, wrap your tool" - Not pertinent to this topic but nevertheless great advise for this festive season.Anyways, the entire point of the campaign is to promote "designated drivers", to make sure that those guys and girls are not the losers of the evening. So you can download the pdf now to find out where the parties are happening and get smacking.

URL ABC

This old-school type meme was found on David Airey's blog. Haven't done one in ages so thought I'd kick it off in SA (if I can make such a bold claim).So you simply list the alphabet and type in the corresponding letter to your address bar of your browser and enter the first url that appears for that letter:a - absa.co.za (Online banking changed my life)b - bit.ly (Gotta keep URL's short)c - chrome.google.com/extensions (Looking in to Chrome extensions for Mac)d - digg.com (No idea what that's doing there)e - explosm.net (The hilarious home of Cyanide and Happiness)f - facebook.com (Uhu)g - gmail.com (It's the hub of my world)h - http://gmail.com (just brought up the first "http")i - isohunt.com (Downloads, lots of 'em)j - jakeandamir.com (The best webisode in the world right now)k - knowyourmeme.com (Know your meme crops up in a meme, shocking)l - lamebook.com (It's the lame-center of the Fbook)m - maxgames.com (Typo on a gaming site I was looking for)n - nicharalambous.com (Not surprising)o - onthegrid.mobi (Work)p - posterous.com (Lifestreaming)q - qatarairways.com (if you can believe it, I got a "Q"! Was searching for flights to France.)r - readwriteweb.com (Techhub of my world)s - sarocks.co.za (Not surprising)t - twitter.com (Not surprising)u - ultimate-guitar.com (Guitar tab resource helping me learn my favourites)v - vintage pin-ups (Search term that I have been obsessing over. Chrome allows you to search in address bar).w - wap.thegrid.co.za (Work)x - xe.com (Currency site)y - youtube.com (Shock, horror)z - zoopy.com ( - )So there you have it... my URL ABC's.Top notch. Now let's see yours.

I think Twitter killed my blog With the...

I think Twitter killed my blog

With the help of Justin Slack I have (read: "He has") finally managed to get nh [dot] com back up. Finally.I say this with much trepidation. I am not sure how I feel about having my blog back up and running. I feel a sense of pressure back and looming over my head. I feel a slight sense of relief that it's up and running and I think I feel a bit sad that I couldn't go on without it. Some part of me wants to let it go.But I can't, and I wont.Strangely though it took me almost a week to figure out that my blog had gone down. It took a further week for anyone else to notice and it took a further week for me to get off my lazy ass and ask someone for help.Three weeks of downtime. Three weeks of no blogging concerns. Three weeks where I just didn't care. Although I must admit that I think it is more than three weeks since I started the end of my extreme blogging days.Twitter has killed me blog. There I said it. I'm not sure if I believe it but I said it out loud for everyone to read.As a writer deep down inside it pains me to think that a service offering me 140 characters has usurped my focus from a platform that allows me almost endless freedom to write whatever comes to mind in as many words, sentences, paragraphs and pages as possible. Maybe this is a further sign of our times? Maybe the 30 second generation has become the 140 character generation and is soon to become the "Icanliketousesmallwordsandnospaces" generation?Am I the only one who is potential a bit concerned by this? Again I give you: Maybe...Nevertheless I love using Twitter and wont stop, I love writing and wont stop blogging and still am not fond of the book in my face.

Jobs of the future are hard to predict. ...

Jobs of the future are hard to predict.

What will we all be doing in 5 years? Who can tell.I studied to be a journalist. No, I studied to be a print journalist. And now I work in and around mobile social networking strategy and development.Let's just quickly repeat that: Mobile social networking strategy and development. I am almost 100% certain that when I started studying at Rhodes University in 2003 that my current job didn't even exist.There is one job in particular that is going to need a lot more focus in the coming years:New media sales and advertising.The reason that I think this job is becoming increasingly important and increasingly neglected is because there is a marked lack of skilled and experienced people to fill this position.

What does this position entail?

Sales and advertising has traditionally (back in the old days) been about selling and advertising products. Getting people to buy in to your product or getting advertisers to place an advert in to your publication, on to your store walls or on your car and so on.Sales and advertising is becoming a much more complicated and intricate art. You cannot just sell banners, text links, full page adverts, splash screens, in-video sponsorships or product placements. Social networks and new media businesses need to have a salesperson who understands every aspect of the business. This person needs to be able to cross sell, integrate campaigns, work on new media, old media and media that might not exist yet.

What does this person need to succeed?

This person needs to understand CPC, CPA, CPM, CPSA and how to make these models work. This person needs to not only know what CRM stands for but what it actually is and how to make it relevant to the client.This person needs to know who the client is or should be and how that clients business or latest campaign fits in to the business of a new media business.Sales is shifting as fast as media is shifting and technology is growing and developing. The trick here is that technology, websites, mobile content and advancements can push forward as fast as they like but if there is no team able to monetize the products, there may as well not even be a product.It's time start thinking about integrated salespeople, sales teams, sales in relation to your core business and if sales actually might be your companies core business.

Google Wave use cases in Africa With al...

Google Wave use cases in Africa

With all the Google Wave hype sprouting up all over the web I've been left slightly underwhelmed. The reasons are relatively simple; I don't know enough people using Wave to interact with and I'm not doing business or working on projects with the people I do know on Wave.With that said though, I can see some potential use cases for Wave in Africa.Generally there are some fundamental problems with the Internet through Africa. The biggest of the lot involve the digital divide.

Wave in the classroom

Let's, for a second, imagine that a School A in South Africa partnered with School B in an area that was struggling to find quality educators.School A provides a computer room with 20 PCs and broadband Internet (potentially sponsored by Telkom/Mweb/etc) and goes to lengths to educate the pupils on web usage and Google Wave. This would be a laborious process, I agree, but let's just imagine.What could happen next is almost magical. Students receiving lectures from the teacher at School A could start a Wave, "Mathematics, Grade 12, class 14". School A's students and teacher could make notes, upload documents and collaborate on these documents and lecture notes with School B. Thus educators in School A could partially attribute to School B's education. This is not a foolproof, 100% solid solution to a massive education problem Africa faces, but it is possible.

University collaboration

Along similar lines as the school example above. University lecture and project collaboration could become seamless across African borders. Students and lecturers could share, comment and interact with one another in real-time. No delays, no restrictions (other than the broadband issue) and no bureaucratic processes to concern themselves with while debating with multiple scholars from multiple disciplines across multiple borders. Just simple debate.Access to previously restricted or hard to reach areas and school of knowledge could be opened up to an immense audience in Africa that his hungry for the chance to interact with other pools of knowledge.Of course the major challenge with this example is that it hinges on many people committing to a Wave and contributing to it on a consistent basis.

Business Mentoring

Small businesses are the way of the future for South Africa and Africa on a large scale. What many of these small businesses and young entrepreneurs are missing is guidance.A mentorship Wave that provides valuable readings, insights, guidance and tips could be invaluable to businesses people trying to stake their claim and start up a successful business.You may argue that many of these business people wont have access to the web, well there are Internet cafes across the country that hundreds of thousands of people use on a daily basis.

More...

Are there any more use cases? Without a doubt. Have we realised the potential of real-time collaboration yet? Probably not. But the future is there for the taking.Let me know how you might see Google Wave being implemented in Africa.

Machinarium has me hooked, lined and sin...

Machinarium has me hooked, lined and sinking my skull in to my hands at the prospect of having to play a stupid robot at checker (5 in a row) one more time. Dammit. Buy. This. Game.

Wordpress goes mobile but misses the poi...

Wordpress goes mobile but misses the point.Mashable! today reports that Wordpress has launched two new mobile themes. But "mobile" here refers to iPhones and Android handsets not to the mobile market that we, in Africa, are referring to.I'm interested to know how many 3rd world (low broadband) countries have Wordpress blogs. What is the number? Is it ten thousand, fifty thousand, more or less?The reason I ask is because I have a feeling that if Wordpress was to start focusing on lower-end handset models in the mobile market they would open themselves up to a massively neglected market. The market that can't afford "smartphones", the market that can't afford laptops, computers and fixed-line internet.It's interesting to think that in 1st world countries the term "mobile" refers to iPhone handsets or "smartphones". What of the rest of the world? What of the people who don't have these phones and can't view the content they are looking for because it costs too much.Meeting with Marc Smith this month was an eye-opener for many reasons. Firstly he told me that Obama winning a Nobel peace prize was not regarded in very high esteem by Americans. Why? Because if Europeans like their president there must be something wrong him. This seems to echo in the approach of many a large company playing in the online/mobile space.Why is Wordpress not going after the African market? Why are they not providing those without fixed-line broadband an outlet for their mobile phones to read and write blogs?To me it feels like a lack of insight and foresight.

Where has all the chocoalte gone???? ...

Where has all the chocoalte gone????

How quiet is too quiet? I have recentl...

How quiet is too quiet?I have recently been chastised at every turn for "falling off the radar" so to speak. By "the radar" most people are referring to that of the social media world; blogs, twitter, the book of face and many others.But here's my question, How quiet is too quiet? I don't feel I've dropped of the radar too dramatically. I completely agree that I am blogging less but I think that's because my paradigms are shifting a bit.I no longer believe that the web is the best place to throw down your thoughts and hope for some response. I no longer believe that my blogs are the best way for me to spend my time online. I have a job that pushes me to my limits almost every day and fulfills my need to constantly be innovating, creating and developing within a new and uncharted territory. So what do I need blogs for?Don't get my wrong, I love my blogs and they are a great outlet for me to do precisely what I am doing right now, a dump of mental thoughts (moughts?) running around my head that help to keep my very few readers up to date with the direction of my thinking and life. That's it.SA Rocks serves an entirely different purpose so that's not really worth discussing in the same context.Regarding Twitter, the book of face, the space of my, linked in, last fm and any (every) other social network I belong to, I am fast feeling that they are all relatively useless to me. I don't understand the value of Facebook. Linkedin is a network worth keeping alive, but just barely and the others were great for me when I wanted to keep abreast of the latest tech out there. But right now, I am in a different paradigm that has very little to do with the web and how social it can be right now.So I think I am being the correct amount of quiet up in here.

I'm trying to get fit, healthy, sleep p...

I'm trying to get fit, healthy, sleep properly and feel like a human being again.But it's tough. I decided three weeks ago to get back in to an exercise regime. This is obviously coupled with trying to maintain a healthier diet.The Gym and activity I don't have a problem with, 4 days of gym a week and at least 1 day of another activity (mostly Golf) makes up my 5 days of training.I haven't stopped smoking yet. I'm working on that as we speak (by resisting the urge to go for a smoke right now).The most challenging part of getting fit and healthy again is definitely the food. I love food. I'm Greek and it's in our nature to be extreme. We love oil, sugars, fats, rich food, meats and anything that makes you feel like sleeping after eating it. This is a problem.So I am trying to cut our or cut down on oils, sugars, fats and carbs after 6pm.I'll see how things go.

Social media's almost dead so let's mo...

Social media's almost dead so let's move on to mobile. Presenting Mobile Web Africa.OK, so social media isn't almost dead but the fact remains that mobile is the now, new, next best thing. In fact, it's not even the next best thing. It's the best thing since social media and it's here.Vincent Maher just announced on his blog that The Grid is platinum sponsor for the event which will have some of the most prominent minds and personalities in the local mobile industry as well as some African speakers to engage with.Some of the local regulars will be present but this time under the spotlight of mobile and the current developments happening.This conference is finally something that doesn't have a social media (web too point 0h n0) slant to it.If you think you know, you have no idea.Get on it.

One man controls over 250 million people...

One man controls over 250 million people's profiles world wide. That scares me.

Ster-Kinekor ruined District 9. Not on...

Ster-Kinekor ruined District 9.Not only for me but for an entire Cinema of ±300 people last night.Let me make it clear that this is NOT my review of District 9. That will follow. This is a post expressing my extreme sadness, disappointment and frustrating horror at the way that Ster-Kinekor handled a cinematic breakdown.To begin with move didn't start on time, which isn't a massive problem for me but it adds to the frustration that I feel now.We then all pile in to the cinema. I decided it was a good idea to see this movie in a big Cinema at trusty old Sandton City. So we took up our spots in seats B6 and B7 in Cinema 10, Sandton City at the 19:45 show.The adverts and trailers went off without a hitch ofcourse, these are the people who are paying Ster-Kinekor to ensure that things run smoothly not us, the end viewer. But then the actually movie started and things went downhill from here.

For the first 30-40 minutes of the movie there was an unbearably loud cracking sound.

Most people in the back 5 rows stopped and turned around to see what it could be. To give you an idea of the sound, pick up that magazine next to you, go to your dining room table and with all your strength smack the magazine on the table. That's the sound we were fighting with.

Then I got up to inform someone of the noise because no one else in the cinema was moving. So I get up and miss about 6 minutes of the film looking for someone to speak to.

But no one is around, no one is monitoring the film. Eventually I find someone who meanders up to the room where technical things happen.

For the next 15 minutes the cracking went from a crack to a click to no sound in the left speakers to no sound in the right speakers to gone.

Then it was gone and we were good to go for the next chunk of the film.But then the sound started to disappear and this is where I begin to get seriously irate. We are moving towards the climax of the film and people are clearly starting to get agitated with the situation.

Then the sound is gone.

It just stops and for about 4 minutes nothing happens, no one fixes it and no one comes in. And then the sound and the picture are gone and the lights come on, in the middle of the climax of the first South African Blockbuster film, Ster-Kinekor stops the film and turns the lights on.Some cocky, arrogant person (one can only guess he was a manager) strolls in the cinema and says:

"Everybody stay calm," Calm? Calm I hear you say. I am calm.

I am not panicked but what I want is for you to stop stuffing about and put the movie back on.He stammers out something of an irrelevant apology: "We're sorry but there is no way to remind, we are trying to fix the problem but that's all, just stay calm and relax."RELAX?And that was that. The film that I have blogged about and waited to see for months was ruined by this arrogant little manager who didn't, couldn't even offer up a proper apology.

Ster-Kinekor destroyed my experience of District 9 and I didn't even get an apology.

Searching for social media, high-end man...

Searching for social media, high-end management people is a tough job. Something has to give when asking for applicants.Something like this frustrates and confuses me to no end:

This appointment requires you to have: • Marketing or Communications related qualifications • at least five years’ work experience in project management • an effective social network profile • a good understanding of WEB2.0 applications for business purposes and an understanding of the international media world and its many challenges.

I don't think I know a single person with "AT LEAST five years' work experience in project management" and "a good understanding of WEB2.0" and "an effective social network profile". Are you joking?You might be able to find a project manager with 5+ years of experience who has no clue how to spell "WEB2.0" (if anyone's using that terminology any more), or you might find a candidate with a social network profile, a great understanding of social media, convergence and innovation with a 2 years of experience.Finding a combination of the three is one helluva task.This frustrates me because there are many young, talented individuals who could jump at this job with open arms and do it effectively who would not be able to apply (or would be dissuaded from even applying) because of the experience. Or a very experienced, gung-ho candidate who needs a prod in to social media who is intimidated by the application standards who you lose out on.I think that the job description of "Innovation Project Manager" is enough to entice people of a certain caliber that you can then filter yourself in the interviews. Don't knock out the applicants before you even see them.

It pisses me off when I blog about a vid...

It pisses me off when I blog about a video (see the post below) and the big-wigs decide it needs to be removed.Why doesn't someone create a video hosting site by simply purchasing a skin or using an opensource product to whip up a YouTube rip-off where all and only "pulled down" videos are on show? I think it's a winner. Do it.PS: Why not call it: NoTube, no video goes unwatched. Or something better of course.

What was sprite thinking? Let me hazard...

What was sprite thinking?Let me hazard a guess:

Sexy German Sprite Ad - BJ from Max Isaacson on Vimeo.

Could it possibly be that Sprite took a risk and wanted this advert to be banned? Could it possibly be that Sprite is illustrating a movement in to the social media and "viral" space through controversy?I think that Sprite made use of the German standards to benchmark a campaign that would expand much further than the initial launch of the advert in Germany. I think they were banking on their advert being banned from Germany, finding it's way online and spreading across the world.Did anyone notice the new can in the adverts? I did. It could even be said that Sprite is rolling out a world wide relaunch of their brand and this is the mechanism they have chosen to introduce users to this new brand. Perhaps.

The New Yorker doesn't want you to read...

The New Yorker doesn't want you to read their content. At least, they don't want you to read the content first. They want to force you to look at an advert smack-bang over the key eye-track position of a story, top left. Then while it's loading (and the close [x] option isn't visible) they want you to think "Hmmm, this can't be happening, can it? An advert over the main body of text."They then want you to close the advert and continue reading the story. I don't think anyone's content is good enough to overcome this sort of hurdle. Not only will I not click your stupid advert but I will not not read the article, leave the page and not return. Tsk tsk.Downturns in the economy should be handled slightly better than this. Surely the answer to revenue issues is not to shove unwanted adverts as users who actually do visit your site?

Innovation is such an exception thing to...

Innovation is such an exception thing to strive for. And I think that I am incredibly fortunate to land up in the market that I am in. Mobile is an innovative space.Let me not get caught up in my own head and clearly lay out what I intend to say:It's simple idea but on that only recently dawned on me. I am fortunate to be in an innovate environment. Imagine if I was still a print writer? I'd be doing the same thing over and over and over, every day. I'd call my contacts, I'd gather information and construct a story from the information, I'd conduct an interview and write the story which would be edited, sub-edited and cut-up by the mechanisms in place. My byline would appear in the paper and the sun would set and rise again to repeat the cycle. Sure the focus of the story changes but more often than not it's the same mechanisms.Let's look at an accountant, yes there are challenges in every client that an account might audit, but on the whole there is very little innovation in their market. Pascal might come out with an update, a law might be tweaked here and there and if an account is lucky they land an extremely strange client who they enjoy auditing, but the premise is the same, the actions are the same, the results are the same. NOTHING is new from year to year in the way that they do things.Very similar situations apply to Lawyers, many GPs (which is a pet hate of mine), Judges and many other careers, career choices, markets and industries. There is very little that drives innovation.Then you move in to the mobile industry and the market is booming, filled with innovation and change, constantly. That appeals to me.Now don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that other jobs or industries aren't appealing and don't have their own, relative levels of what some might term innovation. But where I am right now things change on a daily basis. My job spec today could be completely different tomorrow and in every likelihood will be entirely different next year when my current projects launch.This motivates me and this keeps me interested in what I am doing. I hate being stagnant and I hate reaching a point where maintenance of a job is more common than innovation, creation and envelope pushing.

Facebook is actually becoming ridiculous...

Facebook is actually becoming ridiculous with notification settings. I have changed my settings to OFF probably 4 times in the last 2 months. Today I started receiving notifications from Facebook in my email inbox.Let me explain this to someone, anyone, as explicitly as I can. I DO NOT WANT FACEBOOK NOTIFICATIONS IN MY INBOX. EVER. EVER. EVER.Below are two screenshots, the first is what Facebook changed my notification settings to and the next is afterwards, my settings. Click the images to see fullscreen (and take note of the date).Please keep in mind that I had turned off ALL of the above notifications with one exception: Birthday notifications. Above, numerous options have been changed without my consent.